Cookies and Mermaids

A Magical Finish

2010-07-16T16:19:00.002-05:00

Worked off and on yesterday, on the recent pinup I sketched. I had gotten most of it done in about 3 hours time, but it just didn't feel finished to me.

So a few hours later I came back and played around with the colors, and this is the outcome.

Soooooo much better, yet it's definitely a "Close but no Cigar" for me. So I did one last play around with the colors, and got the look I wanted, added some texture. And I made two versions, one with text, the other without. "AND" two other versions that just have some sepia tones to it. But I'm sticking with the more saturated pieces.

Still can't decide which I prefer the best, even though the text one has a very old fashioned poster feel, I think it also seems like a cute graphic novel/Comic cover. My sister demands I now actually do that with this. Sounds fun, but for now I'll just stick to it being only an illustration.

Art is © to Claire Belyea

You may not use these images under ANY circumstances.

Gotta Love Pinups!!

2010-07-08T16:13:00.003-05:00

I've been a fan of pinups for as long as I can remember, heck even before I knew what sexual visuals pinups were, I just saw them as pretty women who embraced their femininity. Such as Jessica Rabbit, Red Hot Riding Hood from the old tex avery cartoons, I always loved their designs. And I just love love LOVE Retro.

Sketched this in Photoshop, Normally I use a brush with the opacity on so I can slowly work up layers on my sketches, but this time around I just went with a solid brush, sometimes it helps to change technics a bit. Her hair looks like a Retro Barbie. :D I think she'd be best suited as a magicians assistant.

Painting : Concept Sketches

2010-06-29T11:49:00.002-05:00

Two days ago I got hit with a moment of inspiration...not on a mind blowing scale, but enough to pique my interest. It's very rare for me to picture what I want before I draw it, I usually just go with the flow when drawing. Planning is not my strong suit *needs to work on that* I wish I could be lighter with my sketches...I naturally press to hard.

She will be done as a digital painting, and as the thumbnail/s depict. Sort of like a portrait, a painting of a painting...go figure. The story she is from *yes this is a form of fanart* she is more so a plot device and is good *as far as we can tell* with this painting I'm going to paint her in a different light, har har a pun.

Call it a devious "what if" depiction. I was never fond of her much anyway *save for being visually appealing when depicted* she's to much of a flirt for my taste. People are not to be used!!! But what can I say.....pretty has it's dark side.

Illuminating

2010-06-27T16:47:00.002-05:00

Felt like getting in a little digital painting practice. Let me tell ya, translucent objects are not easy. Non the less, I liked the challenge.

Took me somewhere around an Hour and a half. So it's a speed painting...just not super speedy. But I'm surprised by how much detail I was able to get in at that amount of time.

Image Used : Stock Image

Old Commission : Ariel

2010-06-24T11:17:00.002-05:00

Well, not old OLD. I finished it earlier this month, very early in the month.

Now, I'm fairly happy of the outcome, and the customer was as well, so that's what really matters. Sitting positions have never been all that easy and I feel I pulled it off pretty well. I think my favorite version of this commission is the sketch, I was really happy with it. Though after reviewing this after not looking at it for a few weeks...the mistakes pop out *CURSES!!* Ah well, the trials and tribulations of an artist I suppose. MUST LEARN FROM THIS!

But as I said, the customer was satisfied and that is all that matters. Truthfully, commissions really help me to challenge myself more.

Old Character, New Look

2010-06-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

Or should I say, fairly new look. I haven't changed to much on the design of my character "Eddie" since I was already very happy with the look she had, but she needed some improvement.

Here is the old design from around 08'.

And then this years 10' redesign.

Obviously my style has greatly changed over time, as you can see this isn't just a character ref sheet like the last one, but a picture I am working on. According to the thumbnail at least.

I'll be doing a quick background sketch, and then this goes straight to Manga Studio to be inked!! And then baaaaccckkk to Photoshop to color. A lot of back and forth work.

Holy Deadline Batman!

2010-05-28T16:49:00.002-05:00

So two days ago I was talking with my younger sister, apparently she was trying to come up with a gift idea for a friend's birthday that was to happen on Friday. I said some things, including "You could make something". But she turned them all down, when out of nowhere a light bulb went off in my head. She may have a hard time making something, but I don't. So I offered I'd make an image for the birthday girl as a gift. *ended up being a joint birthday so I had to make two* I called it a commission, but said she didn't have to pay me, come on..she IS my sister. The only thing I said she had to pay for was to get them printed. Seriously though, I love Staples! $5.50 for two 5x8 color photocopies AND trimmed! *hearts*

So I finished the first one yesterday, took about two and a half hours total. I think this is one of my fav pieces I've worked on in a while.

And then this is where the deadline came in, I had a late night, didn't get up till 11:12 am. Our grandmother was coming around 1pm to pick us up, to go and get the art printed, and the mother of the birthday girl was coming around 2pm to pick my sister up for the party. Oh boy! @_@

So I had to work under high pressure to finish it, which I'm happy to say, I DID! YES! And with time to spare. I hope it doesn't seem to rushed, I really tried to make sure I put just as much effort into it as I did with the previous one.

Reason as to why they're dancers, these two b-day girls are in my sister's dance class. So she suggested I do something dance related. There is also a small difference between what I've shown and what they got, their versions also have their names on the pictures. But for personal reasons I felt it was better to leave them out when I post them on my art sites.

Anyway, I pray I'm never placed in such a shortly timed predicament.

Long time no see!

2010-05-13T15:28:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I need to update this thing more. >:/

Currently I've got some ideas rolling around in my head, but nothing on paper as of yet, so right now I'll just show the latest completed piece I've worked on in the last month or so.

High Fashion, taken to a more literal standpoint. :D

I had a lot of fun with this one, not to mention one of my better coloring jobs.

After doing this, and realizing I'm ever so close to completing my GED and getting ready to enroll into RSU. I think I need to start up a portfolio, I'd definitely place this in it, but I think I need to work on some NEW art instead of leaning on my old stuff. Really challenge myself you know?

What is a Mermaid Cookie?

2009-12-26T00:16:00.004-06:00

Wonder why I picked such a name as Mermaid Cookies? Well it all goes back to an inside joke between a close friend and myself, a dorky inside joke, but an inside joke none the less. So in the end, you'll never know what a Mermaid Cookie "truly" is and/or means. MUWHAHAHA!

Back when I payed more attention to my Gaia account, I opened a temporary Art Shop *People commission me but instead of getting money I get Gaia Gold and or Objects for my avatar* it was a great way to start, and I dubbed my shop Mermaid Cookies! I made a mascot to go along with it, A Mermaid who loves cookies : Madeleine *Named after the french "Small Cake"*.

She really was a cute creation of mine. And even though her only use was to signify my art shop for the time being, I still love her to bits and had to draw her once again, with a bit more detail and enthusiasm that is.

Her first appearance was in this image : http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/142/6/5/Art_Shop_Front_by_artistic_minds.jpg

Quite a difference no? I hope to draw her again soon. :D

Tweet Tweet!

2009-12-14T21:27:00.002-06:00

No this is not a Twitter announcement, I'm not even a twitter user. >.< *I think it's silly*

It's a new picture I just finished, I was sketching and getting frustrated with myself. I want to do so much better and I feel like a lot of my stuff just ends up as the same old same old. Well this picture popped in my head and I thought it'd bring a little more flavor than just an image of a girl standing in some non discript pose.

I'm rather proud of it. Has a little more going on then just a pose, there's a reason for the pose, she wants to be a birdy! :D

Say My Name

2009-12-08T00:54:00.002-06:00

Today I've been recently inspired by a group called "The Bird and the Bee" Fantastic sound I must say. I watched a few of their videos and downloaded some songs I liked and listened to them most of the day. *hence the title of this entry is a lyric from one of their songs*

Well about an hour ago, an idea popped in my head and I went straight to work. I've been meaning to try this technic, it's vector, yet it's not. I just colored the lineart to match the base colors. Lineart was made using the pen tool *saves time* This took me an hour exactly.

Finally Done!

2009-12-05T00:48:00.001-06:00

Well I finally finished my latest piece. :D

As you can see, the girl is pictured in the post before this, back when I was still wondering what exactly I was going to draw. Once I had her drawn out, I had trouble coming up with what she should wear. I knew I wanted a witch, but since Halloween is over and some of her design were a bit cliche, I trashed the idea and left it alone for a few hours.

Then the idea of a witch in the kitchen hit me, and the witches guide to cooking sounded like a fun and cute idea.

I changed the colors once I was done with line-art. They were alright, but just didn't have the feel I wanted. These colors are much better. I tell you what though, that's a whole lot of pinks I used.

Newness

2009-11-28T15:01:00.001-06:00

Just sketching right now, and thinking about what I need to work on for one of my other pictures.

This one's fun

And this one is gonna take a little more time *digital painting* but it's turning out splendidly.

Been Awhile

2009-11-28T11:40:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm finally posting something again after months! Sheesh I need to post more on here, focus claire, focus! *is an utter scatterbrain*

While I'm currently working on newer projects, I've finished up an old one I set down a few months back. It's in the style of Mimi-Na of deviantArt, her Disney retro Pinups. Yes I joined the bandwagon, but the style is just so fun to look at, I had to try it for myself.

It's my Character Milly in pinup form, truthfully Milly is one of my more modest characters, but come on...I knew she'd look really cute in pinup form.

It was so much fun trying out Mimi-Na's inspiringly cute pin-up style.

Find more of her wonderful sketches and art on her blogger : http://amymebberson.blogspot.com/

In the Night

2009-10-03T00:10:00.003-05:00

I was trying to work on my entry in the latest Chiu challenge, however to no avail, I didn't like any of the sketches I did, so instead I decided to go back to work on the sketch I was working on before the stream started. In the end I think it turned out nicely.

I'm currently choosing color now, I have a few in mind. :D I wanted a sort of Children's Illustration look, I think it has a fairytale feel. What do you think?

New Pencils Rock!

2009-09-29T19:08:00.001-05:00

Well I got my Prismacolor "Carmine Red" Col Erase pencils today. One Dozen for $6. Not to bad, shipping and handling made it higher, but it's better than buying a pencil set with other colors I'll hardly use. I just need the red.

Technically this isn't the first picture I drew with the new pencils but the "second". I liked how this came out better.

It's the small, the sassy, Tinkerbell!

I'm pretty content with how it came out, no reference on the pose or the character itself. Tink has such an iconic look that it's pretty easy to remember. It's a big improvement since my last Tink picture back in 07.

I plan on fixing the hair if I can, her fringe to the left isn't sticking out enough like it should, and some small touch ups. I'll line it with an art pencil, either HB or 2B. Scan, and prepare for colors.

I'm trying to think of what colors I want. I think I want the scene to be dark and have her lit, or maybe have it light but her sitting under the shade. I'll think of something soon.

Character Concept and Sailor Moon "Re Design"

2009-09-27T14:22:00.002-05:00

It was late at night, but I felt like sketching, I've had an idea in mind for a character, it just took me a couple of days till I finally sketched her on paper. It was sketched with a basic red pencil, it doesn't erase very well and it much messier than my art pencils. Which is why I've ordered some Col Erase Red Pencils. So hopefully those will really help my sketching to be cleaner.

Give or take the sketch to the right was done first, I didn't really like it but it was a start, then I did the sketch of her up front, much better. To me she seems like a mix of my own stuff, Chel from El Dorado, and Kida from Atlantis. Didn't mean it to turn out that way, she just did. I'll probably make some more concepts later.

Next is another sketch I worked on last night, slight changes in color are still probabale, I noticed a lot of people redesigning pre existing characters, I wanted to give it a try. So I picked Sailor Moon as my redesign candidate.

If I do an official picture of her, the art style might vary from this one. I just needed a basic/functional representation of her. I'll probably push it to be more cartoon like later. Other than that, I think this design isn't half bad.

Retro Judy Jetson

2009-09-26T16:34:00.001-05:00

And here it is, all finished! Judy Jetson, the space age teeny bopper daughter of George and Jane Jetson.
I've always loved the Jetsons and all those classic retro cartoons. I hope to do more of Hanna Barbera's leading ladies.

I've improved a "little" if you compare this to my Jane Jetson piece, I even think it took me less time to make this, baby steps I suppose. And hopefully this won't be snatched away from me like Jane was.

Watermark = no stealing people! >:(

Daughter Judy "Color Scheme"

2009-09-26T14:47:00.003-05:00

I now have the color scheme up, fairly similar to the Jane Jetson picture, but I made more of an interactive background this time around. But the colors are about the same.

The signature is just a precaution, I don't want to risk this being stolen like my Jane Jetson. Hopefully that won't happen again, but better safe than sorry.

Daughter Judy

2009-09-26T14:14:00.001-05:00

Judy Jetson from "The Jetsons", It's been almost a year since I last did the picture of Jane Jetson, and I haven't followed up on the Hanna Barbera ladies I said I'd do. Well last night I was hit with the art bug and felt like starting up again. Since it was late though I waited till today.

So here's a quick sneak peek at Judy, in sketch form no less.

Not the cleanest, and digital sketches for me are never as aesthetic as they are by hand. But It'll look better finished. Took about 15 minutes, I had to think of the gesture/pose I wanted, luckily I had it pictured in my mind this time. Now while I work on the color I need to think of a background.

I'm now on Blogger!

2009-09-25T22:24:00.004-05:00

Well it's official, I'm starting an Art Blog.

I want to try to post more of my art, some finished, some not. I just feel the need to showcase more than what I finish and post on DeviantArt.com.

So here's the first picture I'll post.

It's a picture I finished today, but I worked on the sketch itself a few days back.

Well here's a toast to future posting! Cheers!